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American Government and Politics Chapter 11-14 – Flashcards

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14 July 2022

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In initiating broad legislative proposals, the president enjoys all the following advantages over Congress EXCEPT

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the president being granted more authority by the Constitution in the area of lawmaking. B

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Congress's inability to consistently provide leadership on broad national issues is due to

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the fragmented nature of Congress. B

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Most members of Congress are

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concerned with national issues, but even more concerned with local ones. A

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The most powerful person from the minority party in the House is the

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Speaker of the House. D

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Redistricting happens after the census, which is conducted every ___ years.

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10. C

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In midterm elections

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the president's party usually loses seats. A

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In contrast with the Speaker of the House, the Senate majority leader

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is not the presiding officer of his/her chamber. C

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Legislation whose tangible benefits are targeted solely at a particular legislator's constituency is

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pork-barrel legislation. A

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The second-most powerful federal official (after the president) is often said to be the

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Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. C

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Approximately __ percent of House incumbents win reelection.

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92. E

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Committees kill more than ________ percent of the bills submitted in Congress.

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90. E

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The trading of votes between members of Congress so that each gets the legislation he or she wants is called

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logrolling. C

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The oversight responsibility of Congress is

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None of the above. E

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For a bill to pass in either chamber of Congress, it must

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receive the support of a simple majority of its members. B

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There are currently ________ voting members of the U.S. House of Representatives and ________ voting members of the U.S. Senate.

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435; 100. B

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When the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill, the differences are resolved by a

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conference committee. A

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Bills are formally introduced in Congress by

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members of Congress only. A

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The modern Congress is different from the nineteenth century Congress in that most members

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are now professional politicians who want to stay in Congress. A

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A standing committee in the House or Senate

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All these answers are correct. E

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What is the strategy employed in the Senate to prevent a bill from coming to a vote?

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filibuster . B

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Which of the following is one of the three major functions of Congress's policy making role?

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lawmaking. A

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The Whig theory holds that the presidency

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is a limited office whose occupant is confined to the exercise of expressly granted constitutional powers. B

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The president's constitutional roles, such as chief executive and commander in chief,

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have expanded in practice to be more powerful than the writers of the Constitution intended. D

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Which of the following is true of the vice presidency?

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The Constitution assigns no executive authority to the vice president. B

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Candidate strategy in the early presidential nominating contests (such as New Hampshire's primary) is designed chiefly to gain

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momentum. A

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The selection of the vice presidential nominee at the national convention is based on the

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presidential nominee's choice of a running mate. D

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The presidency was created by Article ________ of the U.S. Constitution.

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II. B

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According to the U.S. Constitution, if no one candidate receives a majority vote of the Electoral College, who chooses the president?

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the U.S. House of Representatives. B

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Which of the following is part of the Executive Office of the President?

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All these answers are correct. E

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Which of the following is true of the president's veto power?

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The veto is as much a sign of presidential weakness as of strength, because it arises when Congress refuses to accept the president's ideas. D

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The presidency is an

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office in which power is conditional, depending on whether the political support that gives force to presidential leadership exists or can be developed. C

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The War Powers Act was enacted in order to

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limit the president's war-making power. D

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Which of the following describes what political scientist Hugh Heclo calls "the illusion of presidential government"?

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the presidential image-building through public relations that contributes to the idea that the president is in charge of the national government B

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A president's policy initiatives are significantly more successful when the president

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has the strong support of the American people. A

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How many presidents have been impeached in U.S. history?

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2. C

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What did the Supreme Court rule about executive agreements in 1937?

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They are legally binding in the same way that treaties are. A

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How did Theodore Roosevelt change the conception of the presidency?

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He cast aside the Whig theory in favor of the stewardship theory. E

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A president is likely to propose the most new programs

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during his or her first year in office. A

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States that apply the unit rule

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grant all their electoral votes as a unit to the candidate who wins the state's popular vote. A

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If the U.S. House of Representatives chooses to impeach a president, who conducts the trial?

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the U.S. Senate . C

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Which of the following is a principle of bureaucratic organization?

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None of these answers is correct. D

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Compared to the president and Congress, the bureaucracy

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has a more direct impact on the daily lives of Americans. C

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Federal regulatory agencies have responsibility primarily in the area of

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economic policy. A

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Regulatory agencies have

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administrative, legislative, and judicial functions. A

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Federal civil service employees cannot legally

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go on strike. B

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Policy implementation refers to the bureaucratic function of

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carrying out decisions made by Congress, the president, and the courts. A

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As distinct from the patronage system, the merit system for managing the bureaucracy

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provides for a neutral administration in the sense that civil servants are not partisan appointees, thus ensuring evenhanded work. C

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When it was developed during the Jackson administration, the patronage system was designed to

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tie the administration more closely to the people it served. B

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The administrative concept of neutral competence holds that the bureaucracy should

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be staffed by people chosen on the basis of ability and do its work fairly on behalf of all citizens. A

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Bureaucrats tend to follow

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their own agency's point of view. C

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The federal bureaucracy today is

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a mix of the patronage and merit systems. D

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Bureaucrats are ________ and elected officials are ________.

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specialists; generalists C

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The special interests that benefit directly from a bureaucratic agency's programs are called

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clientele groups. A

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When an individual believes that he or she was improperly disadvantaged by a bureaucrat's decision and contests the decision, the dispute is usually handled by

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an administrative law judge. A

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Legally, the bureaucracy derives general authority for its programs from

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acts of Congress. A

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The courts have tended to support administrators as long as their agencies

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can apply a reasonable interpretation of a statute. B

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The chief way that administrative agencies exercise power over policy is through

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rule making, or deciding how a law will operate in practice. A

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Amtrak is an example of a(n)

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government corporation. B

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What happens to the president's budget if it is approved by a vote of the House and Senate?

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It is sent to the president to sign or veto. C

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In promoting their agency's goals, bureaucrats rely on

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all of these: their expert knowledge; the backing of the president and Congress; and the support of clientele groups. D

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A judicial decision that establishes a rule for settling subsequent cases of a similar nature is a

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precedent. D

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The power of the Supreme Court is most apparent in its ability to

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declare another institution's action to be unconstitutional. C

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A concurring opinion

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is a separate view written by a justice who votes with the majority but disagrees with its reasoning. B

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Regarding Supreme Court procedures, which one of the following statements is NOT accurate?

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A concurring opinion is a view written by a justice who votes with the majority and agrees with its reasoning. B

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Compared with the decision in a Supreme Court case, the opinion is more significant because it

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informs others of the Court's interpretation of the laws and thereby guides their decisions. C

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A written Supreme Court opinion that, in the absence of a majority opinion, represents the reasoning of most of the justices who side with the winning party is a

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plurality opinion. A

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The federal district courts

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All these answers are correct. E

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With regard to the lower courts, the Supreme Court's primary responsibility is

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establishing legal precedents that will guide their decisions. A

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Although federal district courts are theoretically bound by Supreme Court precedents, they sometimes deviate because

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of all these factors. D

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The U.S. courts of appeals

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review trial court decisions. B

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The appointment of federal judges is influenced most substantially by

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partisanship. A

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The "federal court myth" overlooks the fact that

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all of the above. D

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According to the Constitution, the federal courts can issue a decision only

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in response to actual legal cases. A

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Precedent, while not an absolute constraint on the courts, is needed to

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maintain legal consistency over time, so confusion and uncertainty about the law can be avoided. B

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The Supreme Court decision in Marbury v. Madison is significant

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for the establishment of judicial review. C

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According to the doctrine of judicial restraint, the judiciary should

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defer to precedent and to decisions made by legislature. A

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Which legal doctrine holds that in nearly every instance, policy issues should be decided by elected lawmakers and not by appointed judges?

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judicial restraint . B

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The laws applicable to a case

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constrain the judiciary, because court decisions must be based on applicable laws. C

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Compared to Supreme Court nominations, those for the lower federal courts

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None of these answers is correct. E

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The constitutional provision that federal judges and justices hold office "during good behavior" has

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had all these effects D

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The Supreme Court is likely to grant a hearing when a case involves

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an issue that is being decided inconsistently by the lower courts. C

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The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in legal disputes involving

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foreign diplomats. A

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The number and types of lower federal courts is established by

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Congress. A

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Federal judges are

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all of these. D

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Fewer than ________ percent of the cases heard by federal appeals courts are later reviewed by the Supreme Court.

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1. A

American Government and Politics Chapter 11-14 – Flashcards

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